


Harbour for the Harbourless

by amyfortuna



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Family, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, implied Tuor/Idril, references to OFC/OFC, unrequited Voronwë/Idril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-07-28 13:09:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7641601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Voronwë has a long journey, not just in miles but in years, to get to Vinyamar by way of the Sea, and to Tuor by way of his marriage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harbour for the Harbourless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serenityabrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenityabrin/gifts).



> Dear Serenity - I loved your general likes about polyamory, found families, and complicated relationships so much! And then you mentioned Voronwë being a father, and how could I resist the chance to put Littleheart into a story? <3 <3 <3

All his life, Voronwë had heard stories of the crossing of the Grinding Ice. His own father, Aranwë, had been just under a hundred years old then, and when Voronwë was a child, it was still very fresh in his memory. "The Lady Aredhel wrestled an ice bear," he would begin from time to time, or with something along similar lines, and Voronwë would settle in, snuggling against Aranwë's side, listening intently, while across the room his mother would sit working on her sewing, her brow furrowed a little. 

Voronwë's mother was a relative of Cirdan, a sea-maiden of Elgarest named Aeardis. Many of Cirdan's folk came to live in Vinyamar under Turgon's rule. The earliest sounds Voronwë could remember hearing were the slap and sigh of the waves against the sea walls, a lullaby for his baby ears that always soothed him to sleep. 

His distant cousin, the princess Idril, was his first crush. She, fully grown now (though she had been little more than a child during the crossing of the Ice), acted essentially the role of queen, with help from her aunt. But Aredhel was not much given to rulership - she cared nothing for such things. At the famous debate in Valinor when all the princes of the House of Finwë had argued in favour of the journey to Beleriand out of their desires for the rule of wide lands, and the princess Artanis stood among them and debated as hotly as the rest, Aredhel had left the room before the debate even started, stating a simple, trenchant, three words, "Count me in." 

So in reality it was Idril who performed all the duties that her mother would have in her place, and Aredhel spent her time hunting in the lands of West Beleriand, from Mithrim and her father's halls at Ethel Sirion to Cirdan's settlement of Eglarest on the shores of the Sea. Those were happy days in Vinyamar, when Voronwë looked to Idril as the early Elves must have looked at the stars. 

Once they were settled in Gondolin, things changed. For one, Voronwë was fully grown now, no longer a child, and had to face the reality that Idril thought of him merely as a young relative and a friend. For another, he met Elegil one fine day in the courtyard of the King, not seven days after the journey to Gondolin was complete and the city sealed off. She was an elf of Mithrim, a cousin of Annael, and very distantly kin to Thingol. Years later, not long before she asked Voronwë to marry her, she told him how she had almost decided not to go to Gondolin, but changed her mind at the last minute. 

On their wedding day, she joked that this time she would not change her mind, as she was adopting her husband's traits instead of her own, and hoped that Voronwë would take some of her impetuosity - then they would be both perfectly balanced. Their son Ilfiniol was born in the days of happiness in Gondolin and Elegil, who had been a huntress like Aredhel, settled down to a quieter life as a maker of beautifully carved furniture, but unlike Aredhel, she found the safety and relative peace of life in the Hidden City soothing. 

Voronwë, away from the Sea, turned his hand to the carving of stone, and made many of Gondolin's fairest fountains. The days passed happily, and there was little news of the outside world - only what the Eagles brought to Turgon. Even Aredhel's departure from the city, and then her return and death, changed little about their lives, save that Idril looked more troubled. 

The first changes were borne in on Eagles' wings - first the body of the High King Fingolfin and the tale of his death, then, a scant few years later, two young mortal boys, fleeing from battle. Turgon's decision to fight alongside his brother in the Fifth Battle soon after meant that for some while beforehand, Voronwë turned from carving stone, Elegil from carving wood, and they both made weapons - fletched arrows, sharp arrowheads, and strong bows, wheeled catapults, slingshots and stones perfectly carved for them, and all that was needful for an army full of the youth of Gondolin with their varying skills. 

And when the time came, Elegil went out to war while Voronwë stayed behind, at Idril's request, as part of her council. 

Elegil returned from the battle, injured but alive, and for some while a shadow of herself. She was full of fear where once she had been so bold, and like many of those who returned from the war, walked the streets of Gondolin warily, sensing danger around every corner. Voronwë did not know how to help her, but one of her friends, who had been given the epesse Amlugel, for she had narrowly survived an encounter with Glaurung on the field, began to spend much time with her. 

One day Voronwë walked in and surprised them in the middle of a passionate kiss. Even through his shock, there was a sense of peace, of rightness, about it. It felt natural that Amlugel should fill a place in Elegil's life that Voronwë could not. Two elves could not always be all in all to each other until the ending of the world - Finwë himself had proven that. 

And so when Turgon asked him to be one of the ones to take ship and seek Valinor - Turgon sent only those of his population who were Sindar or who were born in Beleriand, hoping that this would appease the Valar and that they would show mercy to those who had never heard the Doom of the Noldor - Voronwë went knowing that Elegil would be well-taken care of, and even if he should die, she would have one with her who loved her. 

On the Sea, years of hopeless journeying followed one after another, until finally, trying to sail for Araman, a great storm came upon the fleet, and when it was over, all of Voronwë's companions were gone, and he lay sodden upon a sandy beach, staring out in shock at the cruel waves, remembering the one sight of the Lands Beyond that he was given, on the crest of the greatest wave of all, until it broke and he knew no more. 

Seeing Tuor for the first time was like seeing Gondolin in all its beauty, shining there among the ruins of Voronwë's childhood home. The night fell, dark and cold, as Voronwë was explaining how he had come to be on that beach, forsaken and alone. Their meeting was destiny itself, ordained and orchestrated by Ulmo, and Voronwë was not sure if the wonder he felt upon seeing Tuor's face was fate too, or simply an awakening desire. 

"Come with me," he said, and together they walked through the ruins until Voronwë's former house loomed before them. Not far from the Palace of Vinyamar, it was a well-made house, and there was a bed and other furniture inside - Voronwë's parents had not bothered taking much with them to Gondolin - and even some very ancient blankets, locked away in a cedar chest, preserved from moths, and still in good condition. 

He lay them out on the surface of the bed, which was partly built into the wall, and settled down, then patted the space beside himself. Tuor gathered his cloak up, took it off, and lay down beside him, spreading it over them both. 

"Voronwë," Tuor breathed, half in awe. "You are to be my guide, then?" 

"I will guide us home to the Hidden City," Voronwë said. He had removed the belt containing his (carefully made to be waterproof) pouch of lembas - a gift from Idril - earlier, and now he reached for it, handing half of a piece of it to Tuor. "Eat, Tuor. And then we must sleep, for we have a long journey ahead." 

Tuor obediently ate the lembas, sighing in relief as his hunger was satisfied. "I'm not sure I can sleep," he said, and in that moment, looked very much like the young man he was, half shy, half eager. He pressed close to Voronwë and kissed him. 

A fire awakened inside Voronwë's bones. He could not have resisted kissing Tuor back, not for anything. Instead, he threw his arms around him, and sank into the warmth of Tuor's body next to him, the sweetness of his mouth, the soft noises he made. 

After a moment of drowning in pleasure, he drew back, trying to regain the lost scraps of his dignity. "This is sudden," he said, and Tuor smiled. 

"Is this not the way of the Elves? The Grey-Elves who raised me often kissed each other so, and gave each other more than kisses, so I heard. It was a way of seeking comfort in another, when times were hard."

Voronwë thought back to Elegil's explanation for kissing Amlugel - that there was comfort and peace in her embrace, and the world was hard and cold enough without setting restraints on love - and began to understand. "It is less typical among the Noldor," he began, feeling the words out slowly. 

The tips of Tuor's ears went red, and he backed away very slightly. "I'm sorry! I thought...."

Voronwë reached for him, pulling him back down. "Less typical, perhaps, but not unknown. And I...you see, I...." He found himself blushing, unable to say exactly what it was that so fascinated him about the mortal. 

Tuor's smile returned, and kiss followed kiss, slow and gentle as the waves that had washed up on the shore in happier days. Voronwë found that he was sliding his hands down Tuor's body, and Tuor arched into him, all eagerness and need. He was hard - they both were - and shameless about his desires, pressing himself into Voronwë's hands, showing Voronwë just how to touch him, rewarding every perfect stroke with an avid moan or a breathless gasp. 

Watching Tuor come was almost enough to send Voronwë over the edge as well, and indeed it was only a couple of slow strokes of Tuor's hand, as he blinked up through the haze of orgasm, satiated and happy, that brought him there in the end. They lay together on the bed, both breathing hard, looking at each other in wonder and dawning delight. 

\-----

Years later, in the Valley of Willows, even in the midst of grief for his lost city and lost friends, Voronwë looked up from his contemplation under a willow tree, half-drowsing in the light of the sun on Tuor's shoulder, and found himself smiling. 

Tuor lay next to him, their hands entwined, Eärendil sleeping on his lap, and under the shade of another tree not far away, Elegil sat next to Amlugel, both of them carving something out of wood and talking in low tones. Aranwë his father sat nearby mending a shirt, face sober and sad, for his brother Glorfindel had been killed defending them. Aeardis his mother had gathered a few of the smaller children to her side and was telling them a story.

Ilfiniol, once a guard of the city, had been injured slightly in the battle, but stood proudly nevertheless at the borders of the camp, just visible to Voronwë, his back straight and eyes alert. 

Out in the sun, Idril stood, her bright hair shining. She was speaking to one of her captains, giving orders for the day. And Voronwë understood at last why he had loved her, all those years ago. Some foresight must have touched him then, for Idril was family, through Tuor. They were all family, strange as it might appear to the rest of the world. 

For what, after all, is family, but the tempest-tossed finding home, but joy in the midst of sorrow, but harbour for the harbourless?

**Author's Note:**

> Note on names:
> 
> Elegil means 'rash, impetuous woman'. I loved the contrast with Voronwë's 'Steadfast'. 
> 
> Amlugel means 'dragon lady'. 
> 
> Aeardis means 'bride of the sea'. 
> 
> And of course Voronwë and Elegil's son, Ilfiniol, means 'Littleheart' as noted in HoME. (I take 'Littleheart' to be in the sense of an affectionate 'my little heart' rather than 'having little heart'.)


End file.
